This was the last fanfic I wrote about Lois & Clark. And probably it will stay like that. So I hope you enjoy it!

Together again

OK guys...

First some disclaimers: Lois is married with Luthor, so emmm how I can say that... if it upsets you to read about an extramarital affair, I guess it is better if you don't read this, I mean...Lois CAN'T be married with that monster
Luthor all her life!!

Second, Kaethel's fanfic Near Wild Heaven gave me the idea. She spoke about the idea of having Lois and Luthor married, and we started to write, so in fact, she is guilty for this fanfic... if you are not going to like this... it is all her fault.

Third, I don't think it's really bad, but there are some emotionally painful scenes. (or at least I hope that it's the effect. :P )

Oh I almost forgot, I thank all the people who nagged me to write and helped me somehow... they are Elena, Kaethel and Twinny, and then Ray the FDK's king, LabRat and her useful tips, Missy and Kylie, Adam... KathR a very patient GE and all the people who kept telling me they wanted to read something new by me.

That's it... emmm Guys... Don't kill me. I know there will be something most people are going to hate... mahauahuahuahauhuha (-- Evil laugh)

Together Again
January 2002

Clark warmly greeted his friends as he walked out of the hospital room. It was a strange feeling being in Metropolis again, as himself - he'd been avoiding the city for years now. Strange, because it had been his home so long ago. Now he felt almost like a stranger, probably more than he'd had the first time he arrived there, ten years earlier. A new family lived in his old apartment, a mother, a father and a little dark-haired child. Clark had dreamt about this family many times from the moment he saw them. It could have been his family. They were so happy - and they weren't alone.

It was hard to believe it was still so painful to be in Metropolis after all this time. Sometimes he made infrequent stops as Superman, but it wasn't the same. Usually, he performed his super tasks then flew away before he realized that he was even in Metropolis. Being in the city was easier to bear if he didn't have to think about where he was. He had decided to work freelance after leaving Metropolis when the Planet was destroyed. This allowed him to work anywhere and it allowed Superman to enjoy a wider range as well. No longer was Superman based in Metropolis, if Clark happened to be in Europe then Superman found reason to be in Europe as well. At first Clark thought that people might start to connect his travels and Superman's appearances, but that didn't really happen as no one really kept track of Clark's movements and it was known that Superman wasn't going to be exclusively bound to Metropolis anymore.

However, this trip was different: one of his new friends had just had a baby. How could he avoid visiting them? They had been quite close when Michael and Megan, had worked in Los Angeles. Michael was a reporter for a weekly newspaper, and had just recently moved to Metropolis. They met when the young reporter had to interview Clark Kent, the writer of the year. In fact, Clark's book had become a bestseller in just few weeks. Clark had decided to write a novel as a sort of catharsis, to help him deal with the many emotions he was experiencing after the destruction of the Planet and other events in his life at the time. He'd never dreamed that his inner thoughts and feelings would resonate with the reading public and catapult him onto the best seller list. After the interview they had become friends, and Clark even introduced him to the girl who was to become his wife. He was tempted to just send them a telegram or make a simple phone call, but it seemed so inadequate.

Now he was glad he'd come and he was sure that he had made the right choice. It was such a nice child, so small, so beautiful; seeing the child reminded him of the dreams he had years before of becoming a father. He started to drift, the thought stream pulling him back through time.

'Don't start thinking like that, Kent. One more minute and you'll be lost again.'

He quickened his steps toward the stairs. There it would be safe to fly away. In the corridor there were too many people and he couldn't risk that they'd see him vanish. Clark stretched his hand toward the stair door's handle when suddenly his entire body seemed to not respond to his will. Motionless, he stood frozen in place by a voice - a voice he could never forget. His attention was focused on the voice, it hammered in his head and left him unable to do anything else...

"It's not right! Maybe I deserve to be punished ... but not my child! Why! Why him?! Why not me?!"

Clark looked around; he wanted to run away, but 'The Voice' sounded so sad, so hopeless, he simply couldn't do it.

The Voice was coming from the little hospital chapel. Clark walked slowly towards it, as if he had to think about how to make every step. Even more slowly, he opened the door and he saw a lone woman hitting her fists on the kneeler.

"I've never asked you anything, I never prayed to you before, I've never believed in your existence, I know, but please, save my child! Take my life please, but save my child! You are our last hope..." She was sobbing; Clark saw her wipe her tears with the sleeve of her sweatshirt. "He doesn't deserve that... It's not fair, it's not right! I'm the one ... He doesn't deserve ... "

Clark walked silently toward her. After all those years, seeing her was stirring such strong emotion within him, seeing her again was almost like a dream come true, or a nightmare... he couldn't say which. Clark inhaled deeply - her scent was unchanged, still the same perfume she'd used years ago...

It hurt so much, just seeing her again. And again he was unable resist her pain. It was as it had been all those years ago...as if they were still connected.

"Lois..." he whispered, his voice trembling.

The woman turned, staring at him for a long, infinite moment with a shocked and almost grateful gaze.

It was as if the world stopped, there, in that little hospital chapel - as if time ceased to exist and there was no past, present nor future.

She kept staring at him, motionless, not even trying to dry the tears from her cheeks. Just as Clark smiled sadly at her, time began to move again and Lois ran toward him and into his arms, crying as if she would never stop.

Eight years.

It had been eight long years. How could this woman still evoke such strong feelings in him? Why did it hurt so much and why did simply holding her in his arms bring meaning into his life again? Eight years and now SHE was once again in his arms. Clark felt so selfish: Lois was crying so desperately, and all he was able to think about was how their bodies seemed to be created in order to be embraced forever - and that he never wanted to let her go.

Now he vaguely remembered how he'd tried to hate her when she'd chosen Luthor over him, he'd tried with all being, but now she was here... helpless. How could you hate such a desperate person, how could you hate someone you love more than life itself?

Clark simply held her, and let her cry against his shoulder for what he believed was an endless, wonderful, painful moment.

She let her arms slip around her friend, holding onto his jacket with all her strength, as if Clark would vanish if she released her grasp.

"Please tell me you're real! Tell me you are... oh... Clark... my Clark... Oh, God... don't let me wake up..." She was whispering so low that Clark needed all of his powers to be able to hear her.

"I'm here... I'm here now..." he murmured, caressing her hair, and tightening his grip, trying in vain to make her feel better, then when the sobs calmed down, he wiped her tears and kissed her forehead.

Lois pulled a couple of inches away, in order to look at him. They stared at each other for a long while. It was probably the longest silence of their life, and probably the most meaningful.

"Lois, honey... What happened?"

Lois smiled sadly as she heard him call her 'honey' again. It had been so long since someone had used that endearment with her. It had been years, now, and no one after him had ever called her such a sweet name. She knew that no one had ever shown the same feelings for her as Clark was displaying with such a simple word.

"My child's dying... and I...I can't... I'm not... able to bear it... Why him? Why not me? I know... it's all my fault!" Again tears rolled uncontrollably down her cheeks. Every word was an effort. Clark wanted to hold her in his arms again. Again and forever in order to erase her pain. He couldn't stand to see the helplessness in her eyes. That hurt so much in Clark's chest and his brain was screaming.

"Lois, I can't believe that... I don't know why you think that, but I'm quite sure it's not your fault..."

"It is!! I made so many people suffer... and you are the first on my list, and now God is making me suffer... And it's right! I know I deserve it! But it's not HIS fault... God can make me die... But my son is so little, so wonderful... so..." Lois wasn't able to finish her statement for her sobs. She barely felt the tracks of fresh tears streaming down her cheeks as Clark held her...in a way she never could have hoped he would again.

Clark grabbed her shoulders and gave her a light shake in order to force her to look at him. "I don't want you to think this way! I don't know what happened during these past eight years... but you don't deserve to die! Do you hear me? You don't deserve to die!"

Lois stared at him for a long while, tears threatening again. Both of them closed their eyes when Lois' hand, trembling, caressed Clark's face. Then Lois whispered, "I assumed you hated me... for what I did to you..." She opened her eyes, staring at him with a deep gaze, making Clark almost lose himself in the depths of those anguished eyes. "...What I did to us..." She paused. "Why you don't hate me?"

Clark smiled, lowering his head until it brushed against Lois'. "I hated you... for a while..." he whispered into her hair. "But I always was your friend... even while I hated you... and I still care for you... and I miss my best friend..."

"I miss you too... so much... so badly... every day... every moment..." Her voice trembled under the suppressed sobs and all the wonderful and painful emotions she was feeling.

It was all so strange: she'd never felt so sad and desperate in her life, she was losing her son, but for the past minutes, she suddenly didn't feel so alone any more. She had never felt so much hope: Clark didn't hate her. Maybe there was still hope for her soul. Clark didn't hate her, and now he was there holding her, as if time hadn't passed, since that one night, eight years ago.

It had been years since Lois had been able to relax like this. The heat of his chest on her cheek, the warmth and the care his arms were holding her with brought the situation into focus. Lois was barely able to believe that they were real, that HE was real.

Clark felt her smile against his chest. How many times she had dreamt about this, he could barely imagine.

For a moment, a long moment, Lois was able once again to find peace. Her Clark, again...maybe forever...maybe for just a moment, but here in her arms, holding her. For the first time in ages, Lois felt really complete. She had no idea whether he was going to stay in her life or simply run away as soon as possible, but at that moment, she didn't care.

It was enough that Clark didn't hate her. He had even said that he was still her friend. After all the pain she had inflicted on him, he had forgiven her. Would she be able to forgive herself too?

Then suddenly she froze, seemingly without a reason. She stepped back and her face took on a scared expression.

Clark looked at her cautiously, almost afraid of her reaction. He whispered her name carefully.

Something was tugging at the back of her mind, like a sense of connection; a strong and deep impression, but it wasn't hers, it was something someone else was feeling. Lois stared into Clark's eyes, almost asking his help, her voice trembling as she whispered "Jerome".

At that same moment, the noise of the call-button resonated through the entire corridor. "Jerome," she said again, more loudly, before running away, her eyes full of anguish, looking at her friend with an apologetic and scared expression.

Clark hadn't had enough time to understand, but the fear in Lois' eyes was the most important thing for him. He couldn't say why, but he was sure that Lois' fear was not misplaced. He ran right behind her, without even thinking about what he was doing.

For a fraction of second, she stared at the light flashing on the door, then she threw herself into room number 512.

"Jerome... What happened?..." Lois sat on the bed, holding her child.

"It hurts so much... I'm sorry, Mom... I'm so sorry... I tried to wait, but... it hurts so much!" The child was crying in his mother's arms.

"Sssssshhh ... No, honey... don't... Why did you want to wait? And, why you are sorry... it's not your fault! " Lois caressed him sweetly, kissing his hand.

"I thought you were already back home... I didn't see you,so... I thought... I'm sorry." Jerome was in such an unbearable pain, and yet he sounded so apologetic.

A nurse entered at that moment. "Hey, Jerome... I'm here... so... You have to wait just a couple of minutes, then the pain will go away," she said with a big smile on her face, plugging a bottle containing a purple-colored medicine to the IV the child had in his arm.

"Thanks, Becky..." Jerome smiled slightly at her through his tears.

"You know it's a special evening tonight... It's Marc's birthday today... And we have a cake for him with butter cream and chocolate frosting... Who is the child in this hospital who'll have the biggest slice?"

The child smiled a bit at that. "I have a present for Marc," he said in a weak voice, sniffling again, but trying to smile wider this time.

"How can such a small boy know about everything that is happening in this hospital is a real mystery! When are you going to tell me your secret?"

The child looked at his mother while the nurse tested is pulse then smiled. He whispered, bending close to Becky. "I'm the best investigative reporter in the world's son!" The nurse smiled back at him, then she turned toward the man in the room.

Clark looked almost amazed at the way the youngster was behaving with the nurse. He was a nice child, and the nurse seemed to really care for him. The way she was smiling at him wasn't the normal, formal smile nurses usually have for their patients but it was sincere and honest, and maybe a little worried too. Clark noticed also that she had the medicine already in the child's room, and that wasn't the usual way things were done to the best of his knowledge.

'Jerome... my second name... he could almost be my son... we could have been a family... if it could just be the truth!! If Lois had just never married that monster ...' He knew however, that Jerome wasn't his son. He remembered the day he was watching the TV and heard the news that she'd had a baby. That same day he understood. Jerome couldn't be his son. Even so, with the boy being named Jerome, it did make him wonder. He debated with himself as to whether he should ask as it looked like Lois had named her son after him but why would she do that? He decided that now was not the time for that conversation, he'd wait for a more appropriate time.

The boy had the same coloring as Lois, dark eyes and hair. But his skin was a lot more pale. He had a tired gaze, but from the way he joked with the nurse, he seemed very smart. He also had Lois' smile and his eyes were so familiar, but Clark wasn't able to fully focus on who they reminded him of.

"OK then, I'll tell Marc to bring you some cake, so you can give him the present. So, my little boy, I'll be back to check on you later." Becky was almost out the door when she turned again. "Oh, I almost forgot. Sammy is coming with her father tomorrow. Do you think you'll be able to play with her?"

Clark saw Lois try to hide a smile.

"Sure!! I'll be better tomorrow!" The child was once again sitting up in bed. His eyes were sparkling.

"Fine!" Becky answered, walking out of the room.

Lois' smile slowly vanished, she brushed the last traces of tears from her son's cheek "Jerome, why did you say you were sorry? What happened?"

The boy lowered his head. "Because it was true... I'm sorry, Mom... I didn't mean to call Becky while you were still here..." Clark noticed how tightly the child was holding the blanket in his fists, while Lois kept staring at his face.

"You mean you waited until you thought I'd left?" The child nodded. "Why, Honey?"

Clark noticed that she'd used the same word for the child as he'd used with her just minutes ago...and the same thing he'd called her the last time they'd met...so long ago.

'Don't start to think about that now, Clark... it's not the time... She doesn't need more stress than she already has... not now, not here.'

Lois saw tears again in her son's eyes. She held his hand and kissed it. "Jerome, why?" she almost whispered.

"I know you are tired... too tired... I didn't let you sleep last night... even if I knew you were tired... and today you were here all day... And I heard the doctor say you need to rest too... that you are going to get sick if you don't... so... I tried..." The tears again rolled down on his cheeks uncontrolled. "But it hurt so much... I tried... I tried..." Lois held her son tightly, caressing his hair and kissing his forehead.

"Ssssshhh, no Honey, don't cry... I'm your mom, you don't have to worry about me... I'm big and strong, I'm not that tired. And I'm not going to let myself get sick. The doctor just wanted to scare me a bit so I'd rest a little more... he wasn't serious. I'm fine, trust me, a shower and some food will fix me right up!"

The child moved a couple of inches from his mother's chest, in order to be able to stare her right into her eyes. "Really?"

"I promise! So don't worry. And Jerome... when something scares you... like this, it wouldn't hurt so much if you share it with somebody. Don't keep it all inside yourself, I'm your mom... I'm here to help..."

"You're better then Superman, Mom!" Lois laughed at this. How her son was still able to make her smile was a real mystery. With all the fear, with all the pain they both were living through, Jerome was still able to change her mood, almost the same way Clark used to when they worked for the Planet.

Sometimes the world was so strange. Her son, the person she loved most in the whole universe, was more similar to Clark Kent, the only man who'd ever really loved her, than his own father. This was the only thing Lois thanked God for every day.

Clark couldn't take his eyes off them. It was so painful: this little boy seemed be so sensitive, so caring. He wondered how the devil's son could be so sweet. Clark watched him cry, apologizing for not being able to wait until his mother had left before giving in to the pain and calling for the nurse, he never thought so young a child could be so caring towards an adult.

In his other job as Superman, Clark had seen a lot of people in pain. Most of them were very self-absorbed. They usually didn't think about the people around them. However, this little boy was teaching him a lot about unselfishness, a lesson he seemed to have forgotten himself lately.

He had to do something, no matter how painful it was for him, that didn't matter...he had to help them. He HAD to. He turned to look away from the child and for the first time noticed the room around them. There were two beds in the room, but only one of them was occupied. Scattered on a little table, there were lots of books for children and some newspapers. It seemed strange, usually in a child's bedroom there were full of toys...kids play a lot...but no here. Clark guessed the child was probably too weak to play. He didn't know why but he felt Lois usually read the books to him and that formed the boy's entertainment here.

He focused next on the newspapers: most of them were old copies of the Daily Planet. Clark also noticed that most of them were dated from the time he worked at the newspaper. There were a lot of Superman interviews, a few of those were with his and Lois' byline and some of hers alone but also some he'd written without his partner. There were also copies of the Post, the ones containing the articles which had garnered him his two awards. Then, with real amazement, he saw a copy of his book. That was really the biggest surprise. He'd never thought that Lois would read that. It had never occurred to him that Lois would have thought of him once in the past eight and a half years.

"Hey, Honey... stop crying now! It's all over, come on... hey..." Lois said kindly. The child nodded, wiping his tears. "I have someone to introduce to you. You've asked me about him so many times, I want... I'm really happy to introduce Clark Jerome Kent..."

"The One? The friend of yours?" Lois smiled at him, looking toward Clark. She nodded.

"Yep..."

The child yawned, the medicine had started to take effect. "I wanted to meet you for a long time." he smiled weakly. "I like your book, Mr. Kent. Will you write another one soon?" Clark smiled.

"I hope so."

"Cool... I hope Mom will read it to me." He yawned again but he smiled toward Clark. "I like your characters... and I like the way you write them. It's the best one I've read in my whole life...well I haven't read many books...but I'm happy Mom read me yours..."

"Thanks." Clark smiled, a little embarrassed. "I'm glad you liked it."

The boy turned on his side. "But next time, please, write a happy ending." Clark smiled again.

"Sweet dreams, Honey" Lois whispered kissing his head.

"You too, mom... Goodnight, Mr. Kent."

" 'night, Jerome."

Lois started to sing him a lullaby. It was probably one of the saddest things he'd ever seen in all his life. It reminded him of some mothers he'd met during his time as Superman, the ones he'd met after accidents or earthquakes. Mothers that faced the deaths of their children. He never would be ready to face that. Never.

Clark was silent as he stared at them. It hurt so much looking at his life's love in pain for her child, it was a lot more painful than the other times when the mothers were strangers to him, and in that instant all the pain he'd felt during these past eight years seemed to vanish in a moment...She didn't deserve this... Nobody deserved this.

To be Continued